Separatist leader Masrat Alam re-arrested after release

Separatist leader Masrat Alam Bhat has been re-arrested under Public Safety Act (PSA), two days after High Court quashed his detention under the Act, the Jammu and Kashmir government said here today.

“What do I have to say now when he has been arrested? We have arrested him again under PSA,” Education Minister Naeem Akhtar, who is also government spokesman, told reporters here.

45-year-old Bhat, who ran a long separatist agitation in 2010, was re-arrested late Tuesday outside Jammu’s Kotbalwal Jail after his release following the HC order earlier that day.

His detention under PSA was quashed by the High Court in the second such instance since August. On August 21, the High Court had quashed previous detention of Bhat, who was booked under Public Safety Act on April 17 this year.

The separatist leader was arrested under the PSA on April 17 in Srinagar after he organized and led a rally to receive hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani.

Pakistani flags were allegedly waved in the rally, following which a case was registered against him.